Back when she was increasing the long-term debt of the town of Wasilla by 69 percent, Mayor Palin also fired the town's police chief and librarian, Irl Stambaugh and Mary Ellen Emmons. The accusation was that they were fired because they had supported her opponent in the previous election. Palin denied any political motivation. But whatever the merits of the firing, what is salient is Palin's reflexive instinct when confronted with the fact. From the Anchorage Daily News:

Reached at her home ... Palin said she planned to meet with Stambaugh and Emmons this afternoon. She also disputed whether they had actually been fired. ''There's been no meeting, no actual terminations,'' she said.

You know what's coming:

Stambaugh's response was to read part of the letter given to him. ''Although I appreciate your service as police chief, I've decided it's time for a change. I do not feel I have your full support in my efforts to govern the city of Wasilla. Therefore I intend to terminate your employment. . . . '' ''If that's not a letter of termination, I don't know what is,'' he said.

Your call.

###

Friday marks six months since the House Judiciary Committee moved to hold White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress for refusing to respond to the committee's subpoenas.

It's also roughly one and a half years since Nancy Pelosi told the world that the most important thing about winning back the majority in the House could be expressed in two words: subpoena power.

In July, they said they needed to do the FISA bill, but would get to the contempt issue right away when they got back in September. But September was Magical September, and they said they needed to deal with Petraeus, and they'd surely get to it in October. In October, they said they had to do appropriations, and they'd surely deal with it in November. In November, it was SCHIP, but they'd definitely do it before the first session adjourned. Then in December, they adjourned, saying it'd be taken up within the first couple weeks of the second session.

There may be some virtue in voting strict party loyalty, but this election Utah Republicans need to be circumspect. Mitt Romney deserved to be on the ticket. He offers experience and intelligence. He was overlooked as a vice-presidential candidate only because of his religion. How can Utah Mormons vote for a ticket that is blatantly anti-Mormon?

Sarah Palin's Pentecostal faith targets The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a cult, a Christian aberration. John McCain plays to the religious right, a fundamentalist mind-set that narrowly defines "acceptable" Christianity. The LDS Church fails their litmus test. To honor real tolerance in our democracy, we must cease making a candidate's religion a factor.

Utah Republicans may find some hot-button reason not to vote for Obama. Fine, vote for an alternative or don't vote for president. The religious biases in the Republican Party must be reversed, and Utahns can begin the process with a jolting message: refusing to vote so predictably. Instead, we hear Utah soccer and hockey moms say that Palin is just like them. Don't kid yourselves. When she's winking into the TV cameras, she's not winking at you.

"I can't comment on that. I really don't make any comments about that.... I want to be a good president and try to lead an honorable life, I've been an imperfect servant and so I'm not judging."

Great non-answer, and great non-follow up, Katie.

###

"Barack Obama is closing the deal in this election and America is closing the door on the last eight years of failed Republican policies. The American people have now seen what both tickets are offering four times, and the choice could not be more clear: Barack Obama offers the steady leadership we need and more and more Americans agree with every passing day." Hillary Link

I forget - are we angry with Hillary because she won't go away, or are we angry because she's not doing more rallies for Obama?

###

"Government's got plenty of money. It's a matter of how government prioritizes the expenditures of those public dollars." Sarah Palin Link

I know - let's spend 2 billion a week for eight more years to steal Iraq's oil for the Bush bastards. Then we'll give Wall Street a trillion dollars so they can lend it back to us at a profit. Then we can give BIG OIL another trillion dollars so they can raise the price of gas.

But the old, the sick and the poor? Screw them - we got ours, they can get theirs the same way.

Sarah's right - it's all about how you spend it.

###

Paula Poundstone - Is anybody listening to Bush?

It occurs to me that I did hear that Bush made a statement the other day, but I forgot to listen to what he said, and no one else seems to know. I think he just wanders out into the Rose Garden, unattended, lately. Is anyone listening to him? He could be saying anything at this point.

"Laura and I would like the American people to know that, if they have any moving boxes, we could use them. We're getting out of here as soon as we can get a truck. I can't believe I cheated to get this job. It's not nearly as fun as I thought it was gonna be. The other day Hank Paulson calls me into the Oval Office, tells me to take a seat on the couch and he'll be with me in a minute.

"I sit in the Blue Room a lot lately. I stare at Dolly Madison's portrait and think about my legacy. She got a snack cake named after her. I'll be lucky if I get a square dance step. We could use some more book boxes in particular. Kinda rhymes with nuclear doesn't it. Never could pronounce that word. Anyway, I just want to say that: The fundamentals of our economy are strong. It's just your money that seems to be missing.

Morford: Sodomy and gratitude Nine perfect ways to prepare for the End of Bush. Can you believe it?

No one can really quite believe it.

It is the thing That Can Barely Be Named, the Great Unspoken, the impossible truth that feels too good to be true and hence few dare actually mention it aloud lest it somehow vanish and time reverses itself and the devil snorts and chuckles and reveals his grand, horrible joke, and suddenly it's 2001 all over again. Please, no screaming.

Can you sense it? Do you feel the deep tingle? Because amid the fiscal meltdown and Obama's stunning poll numbers and the stress of the election, this staggering fact: George W. Bush is nearly done. He will soon be gone forever, America's most spectacularly incompetent footnote, the oily residue left on the pavement after his administration's giant Hummer of ineptitude is finally hauled to the crusher.

Protesters clogged several streets in the capital, waving Iraqi flags and kicking up dust. The demonstration, the largest in Baghdad in several months, was largely peaceful.

"End the U.S. occupation of Iraq!"

"Thanks to you, to these voices and the millions of voices, George Bush will hear these millions of calls in his 'Black House' -- in which you shouted out, 'No, no, America!'"

"This talk and these words are that of the leader, Muqtada al-Sadr: Baghdad is free, free! America, get out. This voice does not reach the Green Zone. We want to hear everyone who is occupied in that area saying Baghdad is free, free, America get out!" al-Araji exclaimed.

"I hope it was just a slip on her part and she doesn't really mean it. But she said, it was reported she said, that she likes to visit, 'pro-American' parts of the country," he said to loud boos.

"It doesn't matter where you live, we all love this country, and I hope it gets through. We all love this country," he said. "We are one nation, under God, indivisible. We are all patriotic. We all love our country in every part of this nation! And I'm tired. I am tired, tired, tired, tired of the implications about patriotism."

I love my country and I want to make it better. Too many people who support McCain and Palin apparently hate their country and all it stands for. They hate that it permits a black man to run for President. They hate that we have a free press, instead of one that simply spouts the views they wish to hear. They hate that African Americans get to vote. They hate that the laws require equal rights for all citizens, even those accused of crimes, even those with different skin colors or funny names or who speak foreign languages or who practice religions that don't worship Jesus as the Son of God.

They hate free speech unless it agrees with what they want said. They hate other Americans who hold political views which contradict their own. They hate the Constitution which established these rights and set up an independent Judiciary to ensure that no one in government could violate those rights without being called to account for it. They hate anyone who criticizes them or the politicians of whom they approve while demanding the sole right to lie and defame the politicians of whom they disapprove.

In short, I find that the the America haters all too often belong to the Republican party, that they hate their fellow Americans and that they would prefer to see this country revert to a time when only certain people had any rights or freedoms at all, and the rest suffered from the injustices of prejudice, discrimination and the denial of essential liberties and rights, such as the right to a fair trial, and even in many instances the very right to live at all.

I don't understand why they can call themselves Pro-American when all they want to do is tear down all the ideals upon which this country was founded and for which men and women of all races, colors and creeds have fought and died for over the last 200 some odd years. And yes, like Joe Biden, I'm sick of their hypocrisy, their mean spirited zealotry and their un-American behavior. If they want to live under a right wing fascist dictatorship I say there are lots to chose from around the globe. Let them move there, because this is America. And I love it enough to fight for the rights, freedoms and liberties it grants under law to all its people, not just a chosen few. If they can't handle that maybe they should move to Alaska and join the Alaskan Independence Party which seeks to secede from the United States of America.

I'm sure Todd and Sarah Palin would be more than happy to welcome them.

Just look at all the people that love this country - and Obama - 100,000 in St. Louis alone:

And 75,000 in Kansas City "red" Missouri.

Fun fact: he raised $150 million in September with 632,000 new donors. The average donation was less than $100. His biggest month before this, was $66 million in August.

###

Yesterday, the Bush administration placed beluga whales that live in Cook Inlet in Alaska on the endangered species list, rejecting Gov. Sarah Palin's (R-AK) efforts "against increased protection." During the 1990s, these whales declined by almost 50 percent, and have struggled to recover. In an August 2007 written statement, Palin said she was "concerned" that listing the species as endangered would "unnecessary," doing "serious long-term damage to the vibrant economy of the Cook Inlet area."

###

Most of us are sickened by the treatment of animals at factory farms. And now California — finally — has an initiative on the ballot which will eliminate some of the worst practices.

If you'd like to know more about factory farming, this website has a lot of information, including some gory pictures and videos. Be sure you haven't eaten recently if you go to this site.

Basically, this initiative requires that all farm animals have enough room in their cages to be able to lie down, stand up and turn around. This will apply to all livestock, but the main opposition is coming from the poultry industry.

Maybe someday we'll all be lucky enough to have this initiative on our ballots.

Germans had been shaken to their roots by defeat in 1918. The emotional impact was all the more severe because German leaders had been trumpeting victory until a few weeks before. So unbelievable a calamity was easily blamed on traitors. Robert Paxton The Anatomy of Fascism 2005

And so it is that the ACORN hoax was born.

###

Republicons continue efforts to sue their way to the White House

Having lost before the U.S. Supreme Court in a lawsuit involving the verification of new voter registrations, Republicans now are turning to the Ohio Supreme Court: